Where Delhi Eats explores consumer food choices in Delhi. Of all the cities that I have been to, Delhi had always occupied a special place when it comes to food. Delhi is unique. It brings in the most lavish restaurants one could step into through Taj and Leela and the closet like dingiest eateries from narrow gullies of Old Delhi serving some of the most delicious chaat.
A report on where consumers go to eat in Delhi.
Being an introverted and reticent vegetarian, instead of writing ornamental essays on my experiences of eating in Delhi, I chose to write about Where Delhi Eats. Sorry, if you thought this essay is about ogling on fresh samosas and crispy jalebis you may please stop reading further. This is a data heavy note on Where Delhi Eats.
We curated details about 3000 restaurants and eateries in Delhi. They are classified in around 130 different categories of restaurants with many them classifying themselves under different categories indicating they serve different cuisine. The categories range from QSR’s to Barbeque, Italian, Oriental, Rajasthani, Pure Veg, Iranian, Afgani,…..the list goes on.
We discovered some exotic ones too, such as Tex Mex, LGBTQIA, Gourmetlicious…. Wow.
Pardon my ignorance. I’ve never knew of these types of restaurants existed.
QSR’s / Fast food tops the charts. They include both multinationals such as McDonald’s, Burger Kings and home grown Nirulas, Theobromas.
The footfall numbers provide an idea of size of the segment. They may be the preferred food choice or just the convenient ones, for the consumers in Delhi. However, If we must understand the actual food choice of consumers in Delhi, then the average footfall per restaurant and their ranking based on it helps.
I personally feel close to those who visited restaurants that serves Desserts, and happy to see 5 restaurants having classified themselves under ‘yogurt’ category. If you are tambram, you know what I mean.
Let’s dig in a bit deeper into QSRs.
Haldirams and Bikanervala – have very high footfalls. Though this analysis does not consider the home deliveries where brands like Dominos excel but only the footfalls, Haldirams and Bikanervala for sure have very large outlets. I have personally been to some of them and their sheer store size (floor area) and assortment of snacks and sweets they have on counters, always made me pick up more than I could carry.
Many times I have sneaked out to The Bikanervala near Crowne Plaza whenever I meet my clients at Gurgaon. Always wondered how they make their Chole Bhature – especially the Bhature – like one oval globe, crispy, completely hollow inside.
Let’s explore further.
Certainly, the consumers who went to Dominos are pizza lovers. Of the top 5 restaurants, 4 of them for sure serves Pizza or similar other fast food. I would be keen to compare these numbers to understand how they stack up in April or May 2022.
About RoadStar: is a data application that provides location intelligence. RoadStar reports 12500 OOH media sites and 205000 retail establishments across 30 markets spanning 70 super categories within Retail.